Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Hey all!
It has been a while!
I have had so many words, and blog posts ideas running through my brain, but have not been able to find the time to sit down and transform them into something you all can read. The one thing I didn't consider about courtship is that it is basically trying to fit two lives into one for a season. Don't think for a second that I am complaining at all, I am enjoying being busy, and spending time getting to know Ben and his family, having him spend time with my family getting to know them, fitting a few dates in here and there, as well as being able to work with him. I'm extremely blessed that I don't have to wait until the weekend to spend the day with him, but can rather join him and do what we both love to do, namely working with cows. With Ben just beginning calving season, and there being over 200 cows to calve out, there will be a lot of that for the next couple of months. :) Anyway. Life is busy, and I love it.

I thought about what I would want my first blog post of 2018 to be. And I decided to do a month by month "Year in Review". I'll break it into a couple of posts so that they don't get to long and boring. ;)
One of my favourite ways to end out a year is to reflect on the year past, and dream about all that the new year could hold. So, bare with me as I take a little trip down 2017's memory lane.

January

Started out the year writing this blog post. Little did I know, 2017 would bring a lot of opportunities to cling to God's peace and that it would truly bring me to the place where I knew that all that was really important was that I could begin every single day, and thrive every single day knowing that I am a child of God, and that He is in control.

This month we sent our parents off on their trip to Mexico, and had our annual, epic, sibling party. Game days, visits with friends, girls shopping day, snow days, a visit to the ER, time spent with the nieces and nephews, and lots, and lots of fun!

February

FLORIDA!!

Mom, Dad, Ker, and I all hopped on a plane to escape the cold and attend our friend Rebekah's wedding. We landed in Flordia, rented a car, drove to Tennessee, visited some friends along the way, helped get ready for and attended Bekah's wedding, drove back to Florida, visited the ocean, went to Sea World, went to the "Holy Land Experience", had breakfast dates, worked out, had a supper date with the newly wedded couple, met and fell in-love with coffee, and finally... flew back home.

I'm posting a bunch of pictures from that trip, because I realize that I never posted any on my blog yet. So... here is to the never-before-seen. :)

March

This was the month that would set in motion the changing of my life. There in the middle of a corral one spring day a man decided to buy my cows. I scribbled in my journal "We sold our cows to Reuben today." and felt nothing more than a little bit upset that I was losing my cows. Little did I know that not only would I be able to work with my cows again (insert wink face), but the person that took them from me would become "my person" very soon.

March also began a journey of hardship, growing, learning, and change for our family. One that became intense over the next few months, and one that we are still feeling the effects from.

This month we took our annual trip to the Brandon Winter Fair. I posted a Vlog from that day here. And this month we also finished our renovations!

April

The beginning of the month was great. In fact, the 3rd of this month was my favourite, because Reuben picked up our cows, and I developed a bit of a crush on him. But what happened the rest of the month kind of overshadowed it all.

Needless to say, we learned so much about trusting that God and His perfect plan during this time. Our lives still moved on amidst the change that was happening around us.

The beginning of my running season, celebrating Nathan and Mikaya's birthdays with a trip to a hotel, Nathan buying himself a new little friend (aka Kerri's baby), movie nights and lazer tagging adventures with friends, also Easter family gatherings. I also began working at the "Hope Home".

May

My work at the Hope Home continued. I wrote a post about all the things I had been learning from working there here.

We (My sisters and I) began renovating our room and building/refurbishing some furniture.

We began seeding, did some rock picking, enjoyed the warm weather, went for coffee dates with friends, and celebrated Mother's Day.

June

June was well documented on my blog because I did a month long challenge of blogging every day. But I will share my favourite pictures from that month, and sum it all up for you. Rock picking (the boys did lots and lots and lots of it, and our friends came and helped us too), a mini sibling party while the parents and Josh and Becs went to a resort for a couple of days, celebrated Father's Day, drove in the city for the first time, had a girls weekend while the guys went on a canou trip, continued to work at the Hope Home, and on the last day... arrived at a campground in Morden where we would spend the next entire month. Oh, I should also mention that it was during this month that Reuben talked to my brother about me for the first time. I wrote this blog post, all the while had NO idea that Reuben was not only reading my blog, but also was beginning the journey to winning my heart like the gentlemen that he is. And he has made me feel like a treasure ever since. <3

There!
Made it halfway through the year!
I hope to post the next half soon. Hopefully it won't be to long in following. :)